The NFLPA’s nightmare saga has a new chapter. 

JC Tretter, the union’s chief strategy officer, is resigning from his position and removing himself from consideration to be the NFLPA’s interim executive director, he told CBS Sports on Sunday.

The news comes in the wake of executive director Lloyd Howell Jr.’s resignation last Thursday. 

“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that’s something I can’t deal with,” Tretter said. “So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered. I’ve let the executive committee know that. I’m also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don’t have anything left to give the organization.”

Tretter, who had been in his role with the union since October 2024, played eight NFL seasons as a center with the Browns and Packers. 

He was the NFLPA’s player president in 2023 and oversaw the process that led to the hiring of the now-disgraced Howell, who stepped down amid reports over a controversial confidentiality agreement and pricey strip club outings he expensed to the union.

“I love the guys, and that’s why I’ve done what I’ve done for the last six years is because I love what they do and who they are and the mission of the organization,” Tretter said. “And I think what I realized this morning when I woke up — after finally getting more than like two hours of sleep — is that I fell in love with the idea of what this place could be. And over the last six weeks, I’ve realized what this place is, and the delta between those two things.

“And I can’t walk into the building anymore, seeing and understanding what I see and understand now.”

In the interview with CBS Sports, Tretter also revealed that though the NFLPA’s board voted for Howell over former SAG-AFTRA director David White, Howell was not the top choice of the union’s executive committee.

Tretter said the committee voted, 10-1, for White over Howell, but the board had differing inclinations. 

The NFLPA has yet to name an executive interim director, but ESPN reported that the union met Sunday night to discuss various candidates for the role, including NFLPA chief player officer Don Davis, executive director of the NFLPA trust Zamir Cobb and NFLPA ᴀssociate general counsel Ned Ehrlich.